Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-09-29

AANNAA 49,
Make-BeIisye-Ths Difference Artisti-
ALL Defined.
Forest and Stream.
Camping out" is tor the most part he
coming merely a name for moving out OF.
ones permanent habitatiOn and dwelling
for a few weeks in 4 well-built lodge,
smaller, perhaps, han ones home, but rs
comfortable and almost ~ convenient:
with tables, chairs and c%rockery, carpets
aud curtains, beds with sheets and blank
cts on real bedsteadS, a stove and its full
outfit of cooking utensils. wherefrom meals
are served 10 the regular WY of civilization.
And so, living in nearly The same fashion
OF his ordinary life, except that he wears a
flannel shirt and q SLOUGH hat, and per-
haps fishes a little and loafs more than is
his ordinary custom; Il ''camper"Iim-
AGNES that he is getting quite close to the
primitive ways Of hunters and trappOrs,
that he is living their life with nothing
lacking but the rough edges, which he has
~iugeniously smOOthed away. But he is
mistaken. In Kidding himself of some OF
its discomfOrts he has lost a great deal Of
the best of real camp life, the spice of
small adventure, and the wOOdsy flavor
that its halt hardShips and makeShitt APP
planes give it. If one sleeps a little cold
under his one blanket on his bed Ofever-
green twigs. though he does not take cold,
ne realizes in some degree the discomfort
of BOOne's bivOuaC when he cuddled be
side his hounds to keeE from freezing
and feels slightly heroic. His SAUNDERS are
| seasoned with dreams of the wild woods,
as the balsamiC perfume Of his
couch steals into his nOstrils; his compan-
ions snOres invade his drowsy senses as
the growl of bears, and the thunderOuS
whir of grouse bursting out of untrOdden
thickets. When he awakes in the gray of
] early morning he finds that the few hours
| of sleep have wrought a miracle OF rest,
and he feels himself nearer to nature when
he washes his face in the brook, than when
he rinses of his sleepiness in bowl or basin.
The water of the spring il old and has q
| finer flavor when he drinks it from a birch
bark cup of his own making Tea made
in a frying-pan has an aroma never known
10 such poor mOrtals as brew their tea in a
teapot, and no mill ever ground such coffee
az that which Is tied mp in 4 rag and
pounded with a stone OT hatchet-head. A
sharpened stick for a fork gives a zest to
the bit of pork "frizzled' on as rude aspit
and plattered on a clean chip or sheet OF
bark, and no fish was ever more toOthsOme
than when broiled on q gridiron impro-
vised of green wands, or roasted Indian
fashion, in a cleft stick.
What can make amends for the loss OF
the camp fire, with innumeIable pictures
glowing and shifting in It's heart and con-
Turing strange shapes ont OF the surround
ing gloom, and suggesting unseen mystic
ries that the circle of darkness holds be
hind its rim?
How are the wells of conversation TO be
thawed out by a black stove, so that tales
of hunters and fishers craft and adventure
sball. flow till the measure Of mans belief
is oyerTun? How is the congenial spark Of
true eompaniOnship to be kindled when
people brood around a stove and light theiI
pipes with matches, and not with coal:
spatched out of the camp-tre's edge, oil
with twigs that burn briefly with battling
flame?
Yet, let il be understood that make-be'
lieye camping is better than ns camping.
1t cannot but bring people into more init
mate relations with nature than they
would be if they stayed at home, and 80 t.
better acquaintance with and greater IN
terest in che mother who deals so impair
tally with all her children.